COLRC Holiday Gift Drive 2018

Posted by Lisa Moncrief on Nov 14, 2018

It is time once again for our annual City of Lakes Rotary Gift Drive! Our generous COL members, in partnership with Hennepin County, provide anonymous gifts to individuals and families that are in need of extra help this Holiday season. We ask all COL members to participate, and have assigned a recipient to each member who hasn't yet declined. If you would like to decline, please let Lisa Moncrief know by sending an e-mail to lisa.moncrief@cnb.com.

On the attached list, each COLRC member is given the name of an individual to purchase a gift for, along with gift ideas. Please see the family story on the right column, you may have to look at a previous page. We ask you to purchase a gift, wrap it, and include a name tag indicating the family letter (A,B, etc.) and the recipient’s name. Please bring your wrapped gift to one of the next Wednesday meetings on November 28th or December 5th. Click 'Read More...' below for additional information.

IN ADDITION: Jean Johnson has asked everyone to consider please adding an age appropriate book for your recipient as part of our focus on literacy and getting 10,000 books into the hands of people who need them.

Also, please let me know if you can help with the collection and sorting of the gifts. We will need volunteers on November 29th and December 6th to collect and transport the gifts to:

Schmitt Music

2400 Freeway Boulevard

Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

If you are unable to bring the gift to the Rotary meeting, either bring it to Schmitt Music (address above) or Kodet Architectural Group, 15 Groveland Terrace, Minneapolis, MN 55403. It is across from the Walker Art Center.

The following are a few frequently asked questions:

How does a family or individual get on the list?: Hennepin county staff refer the families they believe have the greatest need--children in foster care, adults or children with physical, developmental or mental disabilities and seniors with special needs. Our clients are often living on incomes that are far below the poverty level. The number of people each worker can refer is a small % of the number of people on their case loads.

Are the individuals on the list also on other lists?: No - Each individual/family on the list is "adopted" by only one donor since we rarely are able to find donors for all the clients who are referred.

How much should I spend?: Most people spend approximately $50.00, with a maximum of $75, per individual, if you are able. However, any gift is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your generosity!